1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bottle for containing fluids, particularly pharmaceutical products or the like.
2. The Prior Art
The use of preserving agents added to products is well known, such as medicinal and pharmaceutical fluids contained in multidose bottles, the purpose being to prevent alteration and bacterial contamination of the contents once the bottles have been opened due to contact with the external environment.
Considering the fact that the use of such preserving agents is limited and regulated by strict laws, the integrity of the products is guaranteed and only the structure of the bottles is modified.
For example, single-dose bottles are known which, as such, are used just once so they do not require the addition of a preserving agent.
However, even these single-dose bottles are not without drawbacks, one of them being their bulk, with an equal volume of product contained in them, plus a lot of material is wasted and manufacturing costs are higher compared to multi-dose bottles.
As an alternative to single-dose bottles, multi-dose bottles are known that are basically composed of a fluid container made of a deformable material and which is fitted with a mouth to which a fluid dispensing spout is connected. The structure of the spout permits a unidirectional flow of the fluid from the container outwards and prevents polluting substances which are found in the environment external from entering the container.
The spout does, in fact, comprise a valve, made of an elastically deformable material, which is connected to the container's mouth and which features a plurality of gaps through which the fluid can flow, and a cap made in a basically stiff material which fits on and seals the valve and which has a dispensing opening at the top.
By squeezing the container, the fluid is pushed towards the spout where it compresses the valve radially and comes through into the space that opens between the valve and the cap until it reaches the cap's dispensing opening. These multi-dose bottles of the known type do, however, have some drawbacks, among which the fact that the time the valve takes to return to its original configuration (not deformed) is not negligible, which makes the formation of fluid residual easy as well as the entry of external pollutants.
To this end, moreover, it must be noted that traditional bottles do not guarantee correct dispensing of the fluid; the way the valve is deformed due to the squeezing pressure exerted on it by the fluid as it is being dispensed does, in fact, tend to be concentrated at the bottom, by the container's mouth, which is where a collecting pocket forms as a result.
Fluid stagnates inside this collecting pocket, losing the thrust necessary to deform the upper portion of the valve so failing to reach the dispensing opening when squeezing is finished.
In addition, in the known bottles, correct dispensing of the fluid is hindered also by the fact that the gap in the coupling between the valve and cap in proximity of the dispensing opening tends to get smaller.
The primary aim of this invention is to design a bottle for containing fluids, particularly pharmaceutical products or the like, that permits a reduction in the time it takes for the valve to return to its original configuration, thus reducing the formation of fluid residuals and the possibility of external pollutants from entering as well as ensuring a correct and constant dispensing of the fluid.
Within the sphere of this technical aim, another purpose of this invention is to cater to the above aims with a simple structure, of relatively practical implementation, safe to use and with effective operation, as well as having a relatively low cost.